Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly

By Jill Sperling

Apartment Fire

ESS providing meals, lodging for residents of fire damaged apartment building

Jan 20, 2021 | 4:58 PM

KAMLOOPS — Residents displaced by a fire in an apartment building earlier this week are getting support in the form of lodging, meals and essential items.

As residents of the building on Cherry Avenue stood outside watching it burn, emergency support services deployed to offer help.

“ESS was called out first thing after firefighters got on scene,” said Community Development and ESS Coordinator Rebecca Cooke. “Our team activated here at (McArthur Island) Park. We got ourselves together and we got our information from the scene and we started calling evacuees to provide supports.”

The fire broke out overnight Monday (Jan. 18), leaving residents without a bed to sleep in.

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“Some of the evacuees were sent to The Duchess to wait for some more information,” Cooke said. “We had a city bus sent to The Duchess to keep people warm and off the sidewalk. Once referrals became available from our site here, I delivered those envelopes as they became available to the bus there right around the corner.”

As of Wednesday morning (Jan. 20), the ESS had provided support for 76 residents of the building.

“Referrals provided depends on what the evacuees need,” Cooke said. “A needs assessment is done. Those referrals can include lodging, food, clothing — so at this time of year they might also be given a winter clothing allowance, they haven’t been able to grab their coats and stuff — as well as incidentals, you know, toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo and their pet supplies as well if they have pets.”

Residents will be provided with these supports for 72 hours.

“Obviously, the first priority is just to make sure that people are supported within that period,” said the City’s Community Development Supervisor Ty Helgason. “In the next couple of days here we’ll be having meetings with both the building owner and the available supports in our community and different housing agencies and things.”

Helgason says they will be connecting those supports with those who may not have alternate housing arrangements in place.

Meantime, several GoFundMe campaigns have popped up to support people impacted by the fire.

Cooke and Helgason say ESS volunteers deserve credit for their swift response to the needs of the displaced residents.

“They put in an incredible hours to support the city, evacuees and other communities that may need us,” Cooke said. “They’re so knowledgeable, they know what they’re doing and (Monday) night they were ready to work within 15 minutes.”